42May 15, 2013
Many of you will have spring flowering shrubs that soon will have finished their flowering for the year. An example of one of the shrubs is the forsythia bush. Over a period of time, forsythia bushes tend to become an over-grown mass of branches that take over a section of the yard. The question always comes up, in the fall, concerning the pruning back of an unruly forsythia bush. Once forsythia is done flowering, it puts out new growth and then sets it flower buds for the following year. If you prune back a forsythia bush in the fall, you will be removing many of the flower buds that would produce flowers the following spring. The question I then get from people is, “ When do I prune back my forsythia bushes? “ The answer is that you prune back the forsythia bushes as soon as the shrub is done flowering. Generally speaking, you can prune back those long canes by about ½ if you are trying to get the plant back under control. In the case of the forsythia, I have seen cases where the shrub is cut back by ¾ and it still will spring back and produce flowers the following spring. Once you are done pruning, give the forsythia an application of fertilizer and some water over the weeks following your pruning. If Mother Nature supplies you with rain, you won’t have to do any watering.
As a general rule, all spring flowering shrubs can be pruned back as soon as they are done flowering. This would include rhododendrons, azaleas, spirea, Pieris and quince to name a few. In the case of the rhododendron and the azalea, you can prune back by 1/3 to ½, but you must not prune back to the point where there are no leaves on the stem. Pruning back too far will make it hard for the plants to put out enough new growth to set flowers for the following year. Even if you chose to not cut back your rhododendrons and azaleas, they should be fertilized once they are done flowering. In the case of the rhododendrons, the old flower stalks should be pinched back as soon as the plant is done flowering.
Many of you received or purchased flowering hanging baskets this past weekend. The plants look good now and I am sure you want to keep the plants looking good. If you want those plants to continue to flower, you need to fertilize the plants on a regular schedule. If you use a fertilizer that you dissolve in water, you should be applying the fertilizer every 2 to 3 weeks. As the season goes on and the plant continues to grow, you should fertilize the plant every 7 to 10 days. This fertilizing schedule will keep those hanging baskets looking good.
Well, that’s all for this week. I’ll talk to you again next week.